This Article is Focused on These Sustainable Development Goals:
News headlines during the COVID-19 pandemic have often featured stories of positive environmental change. To some extent, this is true, during the first quarter of 2020, carbon emissions fell by 17%. A lack of human activity has also led to a flurry of images showing animals roaming the empty streets of quarantined cities, such as New Delhi and Buenos Aires. However, how true is the belief that lockdown has led to a temporary recovery of the natural world? The answer to this question is much more concerning and complex than one would think. While a temporary pause on human activity has surely brought some relief to nature, certain activities, such as logging have significantly increased during the coronavirus pandemic.
Deforestation during lockdown has been rampant. The WWF has stated that deforestation has nearly doubled under lockdown. For the month of March, there was a nearly 150% increase in the total area of forest loss compared to previous years. March saw 6,500 square kilometres of tropical rainforest destroyed, an area roughly seven times the size of Berlin. May was no better, with Brazil and the DRC hitting all-time records in deforestation. The increases in deforestation can mainly be attributed to the economic struggles induced by the pandemic. With record rates of unemployment, many have been pushed to logging as a form of subsistence. Additionally, illegal logging and mining operations have used the reduced presence of enforcement agencies as a way of exploiting resources. Ultimately these actions have much wider implications than the short term economic benefit they bring, including some I was unaware of.
The first implication of deforestation relates to SDG 13, Climate Action. Forests play a major role in the global carbon cycle, with tropical forests storing over 250 billion tons of carbon dioxide. However, with rapid levels of deforestation, the ability of forests to serve as carbon sinks is rapidly diminishing. Tropical forests have lost a third of their carbon storage ability since 1990. Much of this is due to tree loss from logging. Continued logging will only lead to more severe environmental impacts, and negatively contribute to the effort against climate change.
Another major implication of deforestation relates to SDG 3, Good Health and Well Being. Deforestation is directly related to the emergence of new pathogens. Tropical forests are hotbeds of diversity, containing thousands of species. Fragmentation and destruction of forests bring humans into direct contact with wild animals. Animals, such as bats carry diseases that can be transmissible to humans, COVID-19 is thought to have originated in bats. But perhaps the most well known dangerous disease that has jumped from bats to humans is ebola. 25 ebola outbreaks since 1976 can be linked to forest loss. As humans destroy forest habitats, the risk of coming into contact with disease-carrying animals becomes unavoidable. Hence unless we are willing to tolerate new and dangerous diseases, increased deforestation only shoots efforts to combat emerging diseases in the foot.
Hence an epidemic of deforestation cannot be overlooked when discussing the environmental impacts of coronavirus. There are some things that everyone can do to combat deforestation. Start with informed consumer choices, avoid valuable wood products, and stick to fair trade and sustainably grown cocoa and palm oil. Not only do your product choices send a message to corporations, but consumer pressure will also force them to make sustainable choices. Support politicians who stand up for indigenous peoples rights, and see the importance of environmental preservation. Finally, one of the most impactful steps you can take is to eat less meat; 80% of deforestation in the Amazon is caused by cattle ranchers. Hence reducing your meat consumption is the single biggest thing you can do to reduce deforestation and minimize your carbon footprint. Remember, change starts with you.
Here is a registry of companies use sustainably grown cocoa and palm oil products:
Palm oil - http://palmoilscorecard.panda.org/
For further information visit these sites:
Bibliography
Naniwadekar, Rohit. “Photo Taken at Tengapani Reserved Forest, Arunachal Pradesh, India.” Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Commons, 6 June 2017, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Logging_Forest_Loss_IMG_3939_28.jpg.
“Solutions to Deforestation.” Greenpeace USA, Greenpeace, 19 May 2020, www.greenpeace.org/usa/forests/solutions-to-deforestation/.
Salisbury, Claire. “How Increasingly Severe El Niños Are Threatening Tropical Forests Around the World.” Pacific Standard, Pacific Standard, 26 June 2018, psmag.com/environment/el-nino-is-threatening-rainforests.
Rott, Nathan. “'Like Poking a Beehive': The Worrisome Link Between Deforestation And Disease.” NPR, NPR, 22 June 2020, www.npr.org/2020/06/22/875961137/the-worrisome-link-between-deforestation-and-disease.
“WWF: Rainforest Deforestation More than Doubled under Cover of Coronavirus: DW: 21.05.2020.” DW, Deutsche Welle, 21 May 2020, www.dw.com/en/wwf-rainforest-deforestation-more-than-doubled-under-cover-of-coronavirus/a-53526064.
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